Dual role for Garden City police chief contested

May 3, 2013

Written by

Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

A Garden City councilman said he plans to complain to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office if a contract is signed making the city’s police chief the city manager.

Councilman Dave Fetter said Police Chief Robert Muery, currently the acting city manager, is capable of being the permanent city manager but should not hold both positions because it would violate the law. The city attorney already has issued an opinion saying he believes state law — the Incompatible Public Offices Act — prevents the police chief from also being city manager.

“There is a determination on council to appoint Chief Muery whether it’s right or not,” Fetter said.

Mayor Randy Walker, however, dismissed Fetter’s threat to contact the county prosecutor.

“I’m not going to be intimidated. I think it’s the right thing to do,” Walker said of hiring Muery. “I took an oath to do what’s right for Garden City.”

The City Council already has chosen Muery to fill the permanent post, but Walker said he delayed moving forward with the contract process while officials waited to see if the Michigan Attorney General’s Office would issue an opinion on the legality of the selection.

Responding to a request from Fetter through state Sen. Glenn Anderson’s office, the Attorney General’s Office sent a letter April 19 declining to issue an opinion but instead referring to two previous opinions about public officials holding two positions. The letter also said that Fetter “may wish to contact the prosecutor’s office” with his concerns.

The opinions referenced in the letter both deal with police chiefs also being county commissioners, noting that in one case the positions are incompatible and that in the other, the positions can be held simultaneously by the same person. But even in the case that would allow for the police chief to also be a commissioner, the opinion indicates that the positions cannot be held simultaneously if the city or county contract on police matters or if the commissioners act on non-contractual matters affecting the police department.

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Rather than settling the contentious city manager issue, the letter is being cited by the two sides as supporting their respective arguments.

Walker said the Attorney General’s Office should have sent the city a cease-and-desist order if state officials believed Muery could not also be city manager. He defended Muery’s selection as a money-saving effort because Muery’s $96,886 salary would increase by only a fraction compared to hiring someone else.

“As far as I’m concerned, we can move forward and offer Mr. Muery a contract to be our full-time city manager until someone tells us different,” Walker said.

Joy Yearout, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s Office, was asked about the conflicting positions as well as Walker’s contention about a cease-and-desist order.

“Cease-and-desist orders are not issued as part of the attorney general’s opinion review process. I refer you to the letter, which references the authority of local prosecutors to take action, if warranted,” Yearout said.

Fetter said the council’s decision to ignore the city attorney’s opinion as well as disregarding the agreed-upon hiring process by selecting Muery rather than the highest-scoring finalist — Muery was No. 2 — could mean legal trouble for the city as well as individual council members.

Muery did not return a call seeking comment, but he has previously indicated he does not feel comfortable discussing the issue.

If he becomes the permanent city manager, Muery would replace former City Manager Darwin Parks McClary, who was fired in September.